Sombra spent two more days recovering in the hospital before being discharged. Redheart helped him fill out the paperwork, but could not leave with him. Her shift didn’t end for several more hours, after all. Besides, Sombra needed to make some preparations. Dates didn’t just happen and restaurants weren’t free, now that Sombra was no longer king. Perhaps there were some benefits to being on top.
Redheart had helped him from the hospital bed – he was still a little weak and it would be a bold-faced lie to say his right foreleg wasn’t a bit tender – but he had insisted upon getting outside by himself, both for the sake of getting used to walking again and so as not to impose on the nursemare. He would have thought it was to show himself as a strong, powerful stallion as well but that impression had gone out the window the first night he met the white earth pony. Sombra winced a little as he pressed his right forehoof to the brand-new doors of the hospital and stepped out into the sunlight.
It was a warm day, with a hooffull of puffy, white clouds scattered across a clear, blue sky. He hadn’t noticed it while he was inside the hospital, but the air in there was slightly… wrong, slightly metallic, fake almost. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths through his nose and reveled in the earthy scent, the moist smell pervading the air from the slightly damp soil. It must have rained recently, he thought, I would have liked to see that. I haven’t seen a proper rainstorm in… I don’t remember the last time I saw a real rainstorm. It was almost always snow or hail in the Empire.
When he opened his eyes again, he noticed a familiar pony walking across the street.
“Miss Horizons!” Sombra called. The golden mare turned, tilting her head quizzically as the big black pony ran at her. His gallop was a little… off, as he was clearly favoring his right foreleg as he sprinted her way.
“Sombra, it’s good to see you up and walking around again,” she greeted, a small smile on her face. “What can I help you with?”
“I need money,” he said flatly, throwing himself on the ground before her, head low behind his forelegs, rear legs tucked beneath him in an expression of humility.
Her smile disappeared.
“Why would I just give you money?”
“I had no intentions of asking you for money and giving nothing in return. I can offer my services at the orphanage, which would ease the strain on you, Snowflake, and miss Redheart. I could also perhaps assist with more… male issues when Snowflake is unavailable.”
Brighter chuckled. “Okay, so you’re asking for a job. You do make an excellent point that we’re drastically understaffed, especially with Redheart often being on call, which has, admittedly, left very little time for Snowflake and I to pursue our relationship. Alright, sure. What do you need the money for, though?”
“I asked miss Redheart to dinner,” Sombra spoke from behind his legs. After a few moments of silence, Sombra dared a peek at the mare before him. A smile was rapidly growing on her face, only stopping when it couldn’t physically get any broader.
“You could have said that first.”
Sombra looked up, surprised at her response. Seeing the expression on his face, Brighter laughed, her smile shrinking only slightly.
“Redheart is a very old, very dear friend of mine – stand up Sombra, this is silly – and an invaluable employee at the orphanage. She’s lonelier than she’d care to admit, though, and you are a wonderful stallion.”
“That is hardly the ca-”
“No, it’s true,” Brighter cut in, offering a hoof to help Sombra stand. He winced a little as he accepted her assistance, but pulled himself up nonetheless. “Redheart told me everything yesterday, who you are and where you’re from and all that. It was… alarming at first, to be completely honest. I trust her though, and Redheart trusts you and trusts that you have changed, Sombra. You’re different now, you’re caring and kind and helpful almost to a fault. That’s not the same pony Redheart told me you claim to have once been. Now, what restaurant are you going to? I need to know how long you’ll be working to pay this off.”
“I…” Sombra paused and thought for a moment, only to realize he hadn’t given it thought; the only restaurants he knew of were the little café on the far side of town and Sugarcube Corner, and the latter hardly counted as a restaurant.
“You didn’t have a plan, did you?” Brighter Horizons’ voice hovered somewhere between amused and accusatory, but a telltale smirk and arched eyebrow gave Sombra a hint as to which side it was supposed to fall on.
“I did not, no,” Sombra admitted, looking a bit crestfallen.
“Don’t worry about it too much,” the brighter unicorn consoled him, “You’re far from the first stallion to ask a mare out and not have any sort of plan for how it’ll play out. Besides, it isn’t like you have a very deep knowledge of Ponyville. I’ve got a suggestion, though – Redheart is rather fond of pasta. There’s a restaurant in the north end run by one Miss Marilla that specializes in pasta dishes, but it’s a little on the expensive side. Oh, and you’ll need to get some flowers, too. Redheart adores red tulips, so I’ll give you some bits for those, too.”
Sombra opened his mouth to protest Horizons spending any more money than she needed to on him and his date. When he realized his primary expenses in Ponyville would be on food and, perhaps, if things went well, further dates with Redheart. He needed no clothing or entertainment, and he had a place to live and friends to share it with – though perhaps it would be proper for him to begin to pay rent of some sort if he was allowed to stay.
“Oh! You’ll also need something to wear, perhaps a bowtie of sorts? Some sort of accessory, you can’t just show up naked.”
This was too much. “Miss Horizons, I can hardly-”
“No, no, it has been far too long since Redheart has had a proper date,” Brighter stepped beside Sombra and put a foreleg over his neck, eliciting a wince from Sombra as she bumped his sore leg, “I am more than willing to help provide funds to make it right. Besides, you seem like you want to keep working at the orphanage after you finish paying me back, so it isn’t like you’d be staying much longer than you want to.”
“Well no, but-”
“It’s settled then! Come now, let’s go to Carousel Boutique and get you a bowtie.”
---
“Miss Rarity! Are you in? The sign said you were open!” Brighter called into the shop. The lights were on but the seamstress who worked there was nowhere to be seen. Sombra fidgeted uncomfortably behind Brighter Horizons, aware that, like many of the buildings in Ponyville, Carousel Boutique doubled as both a shop and as Miss Rarity’s home. As such, just walking in, even if it was a public area with an “Open” sign on the door, it felt a little too much like walking into somepony’s home without permission. It was a sensation he knew well but would rather have forgotten.
“I’ll be with you in just a moment!” Sombra’s ears perked up and flicked unconsciously towards the source of the voice, a door against the back wall. A few seconds later it opened, a light blue aura swinging the door gently shut again as a white unicorn mare with a beautiful curly mane trotted out from behind it. Sombra recognized her, and, come to think of it, he had recognized the name too. He hadn’t put it together until just this moment, however. This was Rarity, Element of Generosity, one of Twilight Sparkle’s friends, and she did not like him.
“Miss Horizons! It’s so unusual to see you around here, but not at all unpleasant! What brings you around here? Finally going to get that dress you’ve been eyeing?” Rarity’s voice was genuine, happy, bright, greeting the golden unicorn with a broad smile, “I could knock another hundred bits off for you if you want to buy it today!”
Sombra saw Brighter’s eyes flicker briefly to a slim green dress on a ponnequin near the wall as she turned her head.
“Actually, Miss Rari-”
“I’ve told you darling, you can call me Rarity, it’s fine!”
“Right. Sorry. Actually, Rarity, I’m not here for myself today,” Brighter gestured to the bigger unicorn who had been attempting to hide behind her, “My friend Sombra here has a date soon and is going to need something nice to wear. Do you have any formalwear that goes well with dark gray and black?”
Rarity blinked slowly as she observed the unicorn, Sombra putting on a sheepish smile in an attempt to look non-threatening. She blinked again, and began to speak delicately.
“Well… a dark or royal blue can work well with monochromatic colorations, though, if you don’t mind me saying, with your eyes as they are, I might suggest going for a black to match your hair. Unless you wanted to wear a hat of some sort, in which case… perhaps a dark red. Did you have a particular accessory in mind?”
“Uh…” Sombra stumbled over his words, with no idea of what he could possibly ask for. He hadn’t worn anything apart from robes and armor in so long, he barely had any idea what other clothes there were.
Before he could respond, though, Brighter Horizons let out a startled gasp.
“My goodness, Rarity, is that clock accurate?”
“It should be, darling,” Rarity glanced at the light purple time-teller on the wall, “Yes, I do believe it is. Is something the matter?”
“I need to get back, Snowflake is alone at the orphanage right now and lunch is coming up and – stop looking at me like that, Sombra, nothing of that sort is going on today. Snowflake can cook well for a small number of ponies, but cooking for large groups… he has a little too much focus on quality when quantity is more important. I need to go, Rarity you can bill me for whatever he picks, I’m sorry, but bye!” Brighter disappeared out the door, leaving Sombra alone with the fashionista.
“Well. That certainly just happened.”
“Yes. Yes it did.”
“Shall we?”
Sombra followed Rarity obediently into a different room, one with hats and ties and bows and all sorts of basic formalwear. The air felt thick; Sombra was uncomfortable being alone with Rarity, a pony he barely knew and suspected harbored a strong dislike for him. Perhaps it might be best to just try to clear the air and get everything out there to start with, he thought.
“Look, Miss Rarity, I know you do not like me, b-” Sombra began to explain, avoiding eye contact and absent-mindedly straightening a few spools of thread on the table next to him, before being cut off by Rarity.
“Mister Sombra, it’s not that I dislike you, we just… got off on the wrong hoof, is all.”
“That is an understatement.”
“Be that as it may, Twilight Sparkle is one of my dearest friends and I trust her judgment and I believe what she says about you. I am more than willing to give you a second chance, and I must apologize for my standoffish behavior last Monday, at the party. That was incredibly rude of me, and I am sorry. Please, when you decide on what you want, take it as an apology.”
Sombra was taken aback by the white unicorn’s generosity, which, in hindsight, should not have surprised him as such.
“Miss Rarity, I cann-”
“Take it!” Rarity’s voice rose to something between a shriek and a growl.
Sombra recoiled, bumping into a table and knocking down a ponnequin head with a hat displayed on it. He reached to catch it with his hooves, but knocked his right foreleg against a different table in the process. He fell to the ground, holding it instinctively in some vain attempt to reduce the pain. He was dimly aware of Rarity magicking the hat display back to the table and trotting over to him to help him up. He took her hoof and stood, wincing as he put weight back on his injured leg.
“I am alright, just rather sore,” Sombra said with a shake of his head to assuage the concerns written on the white mare’s face, “Thank you for helping me up, though.”
“Sorry for scaring you,” she replied, “I can get a little… intense sometimes.”
“It is fine, really. Now, well, I really have no idea what would be appropriate attire for this… date,” Sombra tried to change the subject back to something a bit more relevant, but the way his voice squeaked a bit in excitement betrayed his true emotions.
“Someone’s happy,” Rarity said with a giggle, “Where are you going? If I know where you plan on taking your date I might be able to help you better.”
“I… actually do not know the name of the restaurant, Miss Horizons suggested it, a pasta restaurant?”
“Marilla’s? Hmm…” Rarity tapped a hoof against her chin and looked at the wall of bows, ties, and bowties, brow furrowing as she thought. “Marilla’s is fairly upscale, but not the fanciest place… a simple bowtie would probably be just right.”
“Yes, Miss Horizons suggested that,” Sombra offered.
“That mare… she knows a bit more about fashion than she credits herself with,” Rarity commented, not exactly replying to Sombra. She looked over at him, back at the wall, and back at Sombra again.
“Black. Definitely black,” she said, and her horn flickered to life. She pulled down a small black bowtie on a white collar, floated it over to Sombra, and attached it around his neck. Sombra tucked his chin in to look down at the new item. It looked nice, he tho-
“No, too small. Much too small…” Rarity mumbled to herself and the bowtie disappeared in a white flash. Sombra jumped slightly but the younger mare didn’t seem to notice, or, if she did, she didn’t care. She pulled down another black bowtie, and once again magically attached it around Sombra’s neck.
“Still much too small…” Rarity thought aloud, and Sombra couldn’t blame her. He couldn’t even tell it was larger. “You really are quite the sizable stallion, you know? Is the date tonight?”
“No miss, it is not.”
“Do you know what day it will be?”
“No miss, I do not.”
“Really darling, you can call me Rarity. You must be a little more prepared for your date than this, though. I’ll work on a slightly larger bowtie for you, I should have it ready in a couple days. Now go, figure out what day your date is on and let me know at your earliest convenience. Now, hold still for just a moment…”
A tape measure appeared out of nowhere and floated around Sombra, wrapping firmly but not uncomfortably around his neck, then stretching from his throat down to the center of his chest. Rarity made a hoofful of different noises of acknowledgement or understanding, something of the sort at least, but said nothing. The tape measure disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.
Without a word, Rarity turned and began to walk out of the room, her eyes unfocused, deep in thought. Sombra had to step out of the mare’s way to avoid being run into, though Rarity didn’t react to him in any way. He followed her back into the main room, and slowly across the floor as she headed towards another door. She opened it and began to walk in when Sombra spoke up.
“Um, excuse me, Miss Rarity, is the-”
“Begone!” Rarity whirled around, her voice once again rising to that same growling shriek, before coming back down. She cleared her throat and spoke again, “I’m sorry, that wasn’t terribly ladylike of me. Go on now though, I said it’d take me a couple days, not a couple minutes. Besides, you have some preparations to do as well. Reservations and the like?”
“Oh, yes, of course miss! Thank you very much Miss Rarity!” Sombra bowed low, turned, and hurried out the door, not wanting to incur the wrath of the seamstress again.
He trotted unhurriedly back to Redheart’s house, for both enjoyment of the day and because it hurt his leg if he walked too quickly. He also needed to talk to Snowflake or maybe Miss Horizons about how exactly reservations worked. He smiled all the same, though – he had a date. An excited laugh left him as he walked across the town, when he noticed an elderly green earth mare struggling to carry some groceries.